The Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust, (New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

), was formed after a public meeting in 1996 to restore Papatoetoe station

Papatoetoe Train Station

Papatoetoe train station is on the Southern Line of the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. It is between Station Road and Shirley Road, across the street from Papatoetoe West School, and has an island platform layout.-History:...

 building, parts of which date back to 1875, which was facing demolition.

On 13 December 1999 the Trust moved the building a few hundred metres south, still adjacent to the North Island Main Trunk, and the site of the original station master

Station master

The station master was the person in charge of railway stations, in the United Kingdom and some other countries, before the modern age. He would manage the other station employees and would have responsibility for safety and the efficient running of the station...

's house. Before the move, chimneys and fireplaces were dismantled and paint stripped from the bricks and the cast concrete fireplaces.

Completely restored, the building is a community building for classes, gatherings and meetings, made possible by community effort and private donations, with funding from the ASB Trust, New Zealand Lottery Grants Board

New Zealand Lottery Grants Board

The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board is a business unit of the Department of Internal Affairs in New Zealand.The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board is governed by the Gambling Act 2003. Its purpose is to benefit the community by distributing the profits from state lotteries run by the New Zealand...

, Manukau City Council, Papatoetoe Licensing Trust, Shooters Snooker and Pool, and the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.

External links

• Stations on the Move - Includes the Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust